Blankets
by kevin the bird
Summary: They figured they would have a better chance of finding blankets upstairs and they did. Each of them managed to find a blanket, whether it was from the den or the living room. Once they where wrapped in their blankets warmly, they went upstairs and into Eric's room.


There were many nights where Eric's friends would stay the night, even if they didn't intend to. They all lived within walking distance of the Forman house so they would often fall asleep and their parents wouldn't worry, even if they where only in the fifth grade. Plus, they trusted the Forman family enough to take care of their children. In the winter, things would get tough because there were only a few blankets to keep each kid warm. Eric would often go back to his bed and get his comforter, sometimes coming back to sleep with his friends, and from there, it was a fight for the remaining blankets. And other nights, a few of his friends would follow him up to his room, finding the blankets from up there. That night, it was the latter. Donna, Hyde and Kelso all followed Eric, who had woken them up when he ran into one of his lego starships. They figured they would have a better chance of finding blankets upstairs and they did. Each of them managed to find a blanket, whether it was from the den or the living room. Once they where wrapped in their blankets warmly, they went upstairs and into Eric's room. He was lying on the ground, his pants wrapped around his legs. He had sat down on the ground to get his pants off and fallen back asleep. His friends all rolled their eyes and found their own corner of the room before falling asleep, warmer then they where before. An hour passed, each kid warm and cozy, except for Eric. He had always been skinnier and smaller than all of his friends, so he would often get colder than all of them, much like his mother. He had gotten her body build, much to Red's dismay. He would often wake up, unable to get warm, and walk into his parent's room, climbing into their bed without any hesitation. That night was no different and like earlier, he woke his friends up by running into Hyde.

"Forman, man, what're you doing?" Hyde asked groggily. He set himself up against his elbows and looked at his friend.

"I'm – I'm going to the bathroom," Eric said skittishly. He didn't want his friends to know that he got into bed with his parents, even if it was only for the warmth of their body heat. Hyde mumbled something under his breath and laid back down. Eric sighed in relief and walked out of the room. He made his way into his parent's room and crawled into bed. Donna, who had been woken up by the conversation Hyde and Eric had just had, noticed that Eric hadn't closed the bathroom door and when minutes passed by, she noticed that the toilet didn't flush. So she got up from where she was sleeping and investigated. The first thing she noticed was the Forman parent's door was open, which hadn't been when they walked upstairs. She walked over to their room and looked in. She noticed that instead of two bodies, like she had been expecting, she saw three in the bed. She figured that Eric was the third body. She let out a small laugh and was surprised by what came next. Kitty, like Hyde had done when Eric woke him up, propped herself up onto her elbows and looked at Donna.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked. Donna became skittish when she realized that Kitty had heard her laugh. She had a crush on Eric, but she didn't want anyone to know about it. So she quickly thought of something to say.

"Yeah, I'm just cold. I was looking for another blanket," she replied. Kitty, who was practically getting kicked out of her own bed by her husband and son, moved around and sat on the edge, patting the spot next to her.

"Come sit down, I'll find you a blanket," she said as she stood up. Donna complied with what Kitty said and walked into the room. She sat down on the bed, a little uncomfortable. Feeling the heat from where Kitty had been laying, she moved around so she was sitting against Kitty's pillow. Her eyes started to droop from being so tired and within a few minutes, she was sleeping. When Kitty came back to a sleeping group of kids in her bed, she laughed to herself. Kids needed their sleep, so instead of waking one up and kicking them out of her bed, she covered both ten year olds with the extra blanket she had found and walked into Eric's room, where she noticed Hyde and Kelso sleeping on the ground. She smiled to herself and crawled into her son's bed. Kitty moved around for a few seconds and got comfortable, unaware that Kelso had heard her come into the room. He figured it was Eric coming back from the bathroom. He then got up from where he was lying and crawled into the bed with Kitty. At this point in his life, he didn't mind sharing a bed with his friends. He was only in the fifth grade, he was cold and Eric's bed was far more comfortable than the floor. Kitty was surprised at the weight change of the bed and sudden warmth from another body so she flipped over to face the body that had just crawled into bed with her. She immediately recognized Michael Kelso's hair. She couldn't help but to stifle a laugh. Michael recognized the laugh as Kitty Forman's.

"Mrs. Forman?" he asked in a slurred manner. He wasn't really sure what was going on.

"Eric and Donna are sleeping in my bed, sweetie," Kitty said softly. "Are you okay?" she asked. She knew it was only fifth grade innocence for Michael to climb into Eric's bed, but she wanted to make sure he was okay, especially when she knew he thought it was Eric that had climbed back into his bed.

"Yeah, I need to protect you from the ninjas," Michael said, completely unaware of what was going on. He had been sleep talking the entire time he was talking with the motherly figure laying next to him. Kitty laughed and she immediately put it together that Michael was sleep talking.

"Go to sleep, sweetheart," Kitty said soothingly as she pulled the blankets over Michael, laying down comfortably as well. Michael obliged and closed his eyes, which had been open during the conversation. Kitty smiled to herself and closed her eyes as well, falling asleep in a matter of minutes. The rest of the night went on without any more problems. No one else woke up, they where all content. That is, until Red woke up the next morning with two kids sleeping next to him and not his wife. Eric, who had climbed in between his mother and father the night before, was cuddled close to him for heat. When he propped himself up, he noticed Donna was also sleeping with them in the bed. With the sudden movement next to him, Eric's eyes fluttered open. Red noticed this and looked at his son.

"Where'd Mom go, son?" he asked softly, not wanting to startle him or wake Donna up.

"I dunno," Eric said as he sleepily moved closer to his father for more body heat. Red looked proudly at his son. Sure he was hard on Eric, but that was because he loved him. He wanted the best for Eric, even if that was hard for the younger boy to understand.

"I'm going to go find her," Red said after a minute of silently looking at Eric proudly. Eric had nodded back to sleep, so he carefully got out of bed. He wasn't sure where or when Kitty had gotten up during the night, but he was sure he would be able to find her. When he walked passed Eric's room, he noticed Hyde sleeping in front of Eric's bed and a lump in the bed. He took a step into the room and recognized the familiar hair of both Michael and Kitty. How the two of them managed to get into Eric's small twin bed, he wasn't sure. He thought Kitty and Michael looked much like he and Kitty did when they were sleeping. Michael, being the smaller of the two, was in a fetal position on his side, cuddled up against Kitty's body, who was also lying on her side. Eric's Star Wars comforter was spread across the both of them and they where both sound asleep. Red just rolled his eyes, a small smile creeping on his face. Despite thinking Michael was a dumb ass, he thought it was cute that he was cuddling with his wife. After a few seconds of just watching his wife sleep next to Michael, he walked over to the side of the bed she was sleeping on and sat down next to her. He rested a hand on her shoulder and softly rubbed it.

"Kitty, sweetheart," he said softly. Kitty's eyes fluttered open and she looked around and immediately noticed Red sitting next to her. She smiled at him sleepily. "Hello, beautiful," he added, just as softly. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. Kitty smiled into the kiss and pulled away. She moved around on the bed so she was sitting against the headboard, waking Michael up in the process.

"What –" he started, unsure of what was going on. Kitty moved the comforter so it was covering her body. When Michael started to move around, she rested a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, sweetheart," she said. "You're in Eric's bed." Michael looked around and spotted both Kitty and Red sitting on the bed he was in. He had no recollection of getting into Eric's bed, especially with Kitty. Kitty spotted the confusion and smiled at the ten-year-old. "You slept walked into bed with me last night and I didn't have the heart to kick you out." Michael rubbed his eyes sleepily and also moved so he was sitting against the headboard. His eyes started to droop, the heat from Kitty putting him back to sleep. Kitty wrapped an arm around Michael's shoulders and pulled him close. In turn, Michael scooted down in bed enough to rest his head in the crook of her arm. A smile appeared on Red's face as he watched his wife interact with Eric's friend. He always loved watching her with kids. He let his hand wonder over to Kitty's free hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. Kitty looked up at her husband and smiled at him, her eyes starting to droop as well.

"Go back to sleep, sweetie," Red said as he softly laughed at the sleep in his wife's face. He kissed the temple of her head. He softly stood up and went to exit the room, but before he could get too far, Kitty stopped him.

"Where're you going?" she asked quietly.

"Back to bed, sweetheart," Red replied as he laughed again. "Now seriously, go back to sleep. You need to rest." He then walked back into the master bedroom, where Donna and Eric where still sleeping and crawled into his side of the bed. He pulled the covers over his body and wrapped a protective arm around his son. Feeling the renewed source of heat, Eric unconsciously cuddled into his father. Red feel back asleep, happy to be cuddling with his son, and the happy family slept for the rest of the morning.


End file.
